Professional Editorial Standards

As an Editors Canada certification credential holder, you are responsible for knowing the standards in Professional Editorial Standards (2016), upholding these standards in your work and keeping up to date with the standards as they evolve.

Professional Development Points

To qualify for credential maintenance points, professional development activities must be related to editing and proofreading.

Many of the activities you already engage in will qualify—taking courses, volunteering for Editors Canada, giving presentations, reading and writing books and blogs about editing, and so on.

Professional development activities can be applied to any certification credential, not just the credential(s) you hold. If you're a certified proofreader, for instance, you can earn points for activities that involve stylistic editing.

Qualifying activities are assigned points that are weighted by time and effort, usually based on the number of hours you spend on them. For example:

Points for writing about editing are based on the length of the published piece. For instance:

Writing a 400-word blog about different punctuation systems in the English-speaking world would earn 2 points (1 point for every 200 words)

Writing a 1,200-word article about self-publishing would earn 6 points (1 point for every 200 words)

To maintain your credential(s)—no matter how many credentials you hold—you must collect 100 points within the 5-year period following your first certification.

If you earned a credential in 2011 or earlier (i.e., under the old system) and then another in 2012 or later (i.e., under the new system), however, your five-year credential maintenance period begins when you earn your first credential under the new system.

The 100 points must be allocated over at least three of the five professional development categories. There's a maximum number of points allowed for each category.

The following table outlines the types of activities that can earn points and the number of points you can accumulate in each category.

Credential Maintenance Reporting Form

As you complete each activity, use Editors Canada's credential maintenance reporting form to:

Briefly describe the activity

List documents confirming that you have completed the activity

Indicate when you completed the activity

Record the number of hours allocated and the number of points you have earned

You must submit a completed form every five years.

Random periodic checks may require that you provide proof of your professional development activities. You must therefore save documents and receipts that confirm your activities.

Some activities may qualify for more than one category. You can receive credit for any activity just once, however, so decide which category best suits your purpose.

If you're unsure which category an activity falls into, or if you want to report an activity in the "Other" category, please contact the Credential Maintenance Subcommittee through Editors Canada's Professional Standards Manager.

Sample Credential Maintenance Reporting Form

The following table shows how a fictitious certified editor might fill out part of the form.

Article (600 words) on copy editing for Ryerson University publishing program newsletter

Copy of newsletter

2015

600

3

Category 1 Subtotal

38

Sample Credential Maintenance Schedule

The table below is a sample schedule for how credential maintenance is implemented over a five-year period.

Your credential year is the one after the administration of your successful exam. If you successfully wrote an exam in 2017, for example, you were awarded the credential in 2018.

The five-year credential maintenance period begins in January of your credential year for your first certification.

If you were awarded a credential in 2018 or earlier and another in 2019 or later, your five-year reporting period begins in January of your first post-2018 credential year.

November 2017

Write stylistic editing and copy editing exams

January 2018

Begin tracking professional development activities in anticipation of receiving credentials in March

March 2018

Receive notice of having passed one or both examsThe credentialing year is 2018

January 2019

Pay annual maintenance fee for 2018 (due January 31, 2019) Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities for period of January 2018 to December 2023

January 2020

Pay annual maintenance fee for 2019 (due January 31, 2020) Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities

January 2021

Pay annual maintenance fee for 2020 (due January 31, 2021) Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities

January 2022

Pay annual maintenance fee for 2021 (due January 31, 2022) Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities, and that one year remains in reporting period that began in January 2018

January 2023

Pay annual maintenance fee for 2022 (due January 31, 2023) Receive notice that completed credential maintenance reporting form for period of January 2018 to December 2023 is due on March 1, 2023
Submit credential maintenance reporting form for review Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities for period of January 2024 to December 2029

June 2023

Receive new seals for your certificate(s), confirming that you're a certified editor in good standing

January 2024

Pay annual maintenance fee for 2023 (due January 31, 2024) Receive reminder to undertake and record professional development activities

Credential Suspension

If special circumstances prevent you from earning 100 points during your five-year reporting period, please contact the Credential Maintenance Subcommittee through the Professional Standards Manager.

If you fall behind in your credential maintenance obligations, we'll contact you and offer you the opportunity to comply before we take any action to suspend your credential(s).

If you don't pay your annual fee, we'll remove your name from the online roster of Editors Canada-certified editors. If you haven't paid all of the annual fees by the end of your five-year reporting period, you'll lose your credential(s) altogether. The only way to get a credential back is to pass the exam again. If you've been removed from the roster and you pay all of your annual fees within your five-year reporting period, we'll reinstate your name on the roster and you'll retain your credential(s).

If you choose to opt out of the credential maintenance program (e.g., because you're retiring or leaving the industry), please notify Editors Canada's Professional Standards Manager.